Asylum Denied to Parents of 5-Year-Old Liam Conejo Ramos

In La Voce Di New York:

A federal judge has denied asylum to the parents of Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old boy whose arrest in Minneapolis in January — during anti-immigration raids in Minnesota — by officers of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sparked national outrage. The decision has already been appealed by the family’s lawyers, but it orders their removal from the United States, although they will be allowed to remain in the country while the appeal is pending.

Liam’s case unfolds within a broader and increasingly controversial context. During Donald Trump’s first term in the White House, the forced separation of migrant families sparked widespread outrage. Critics now say that history appears to be repeating itself, with children once again bearing the consequences of anti-immigration policies.

According to a recent report by the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), based on interviews conducted in Honduras with deported parents, family separations often occur suddenly and traumatically. Arrests are followed by deportations within days, without access to a lawyer or the opportunity to arrange care for children — who, if born in the United States, may themselves be American citizens. What happens to them afterward often remains unclear.

The report describes a system in which authorities in many cases do not verify whether those arrested have children, nor ensure that those children are placed with relatives or caregivers in safe conditions. Researchers also note that guidelines introduced in 2025 weakened protections for noncitizen parents, removing the requirement to consider the presence of children in detention and deportation decisions.